PEORIA — A Peoria County jury awarded the widow of a Chillicothe man and his children $1.6 million for the death of her husband four years ago.

The award, believed to be one of the largest in Peoria County for a medical malpractice case in recent years, came down Friday after a three-week trial before Circuit Judge Scott Shore. The jury deliberated for about 10 hours over three days before finding Dr. Rajesh Balagani and OSF Saint Francis Medical Center liable for the death of Donald R. McIntyre in September 2009.

Jurors did not find St. Francis employees or a resident negligent in regards to his care.

“This man was a fine father, teacher and companion. He was the rock of his family and they would gladly give up 10 times what the jury awarded to have him back,” said the widow’s attorney, James Carter. “Unfortunately, the practice of medicine has become part of the capitalist process. And the only way to punish is to make some people responsible for their actions.”

The case centered around the treatment of McIntyre, who went to St. Francis on Sept. 6, 2009, and was diagnosed with autoimmune hemolytic anemia, a condition where the body begins to destroy its own red blood cells. The condition limits the amount of oxygen distributed throughout the body.

Carter said the common treatment is a blood transfusion and treatment with steroids. That wasn’t properly done, he said, noting McIntyre received only two units of blood, which wasn’t enough to stabilize him. The 48-year-old man went into cardiac arrest on Sept. 8, 2009, and died in the early morning hours.

“As to the allegations against OSF employees, we agree with the jury’s verdict that our employees were not negligent. As to the finding against our co-defendant, and the finding that OSF was the apparent principal of Dr. Balagani, we will be reviewing all available options for final resolution of this matter.”

Andy Kravetz can be reached at 686-3283 or akravetz@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @andykravetz.